Sensible, normal folks mostly think of creative people as being a bit flighty and over the top. Creative people get just a tad more excited, a tad more depressed, a tad too focused, a tad not focused enough … everything just like us sensible normal folks, but just a tad more.
That’s just fine with us, because, frankly, we really enjoy the music, the art, the books, the movies and TV shows and all of the other resulting work from those flighty creatives, who are just a tad too much of everything. Creativity to most of us is all about fun or play or entertainment or just daydreaming and wasting time. That’s all well and good as long as it stays in its proper place. Life is serious business and there’s work to be done!
While those flighty creatives are off somewhere playing and goofing off, we sensible, normal folks are taking care of the important things … planning dinner, running corporations, raising kids, directing traffic and keeping citizens safe, managing restaurants and local businesses, running heavy equipment and flying airplanes … get the real work done first, then maybe there’ll be time to play!
Still, those flighty creatives are intriguing, and we don’t mind so much having a few of those in our lives.
We might have one or two creatives in our circle of friends. There might be a cousin or a crazy uncle in our extended family.
Sometimes we find a creative in our own house … a spouse or a roommate. Mostly that’s fun, but sometimes they can drive us crazy! But that’s okay … we are sensible, normal folks, and we just have to step it up a notch to keep homelife on an even keel. Somebody’s got to pay the bills and keep the laundry caught up. We can do that because, well, we’re sensible and normal.
Eventually most of us will begin having children of our own, and soon we’re finding out that one of our very own offspring is one of those flighty, creative types! Yikes!
We can always tell, because our other kids don’t have the same issues as THAT one … good grief! Where do they come from? Certainly not from OUR side of the family! But that’s okay. We’re the sensible, normal parents and we’re in charge. We’ll teach THAT one that life is serious business … get the real work done first, then maybe there’ll be time to play! We’ll take the “flighty” out of our little creative! At least that’s our intention … only time will tell …
Then one fateful day …
Maybe it was something cute your toddler or your crazy cat did …
Maybe it was something you read in a book, or heard in a song, that stirred a sweet memory …
And you just had to tell somebody … And, of course, they said, Oh! You should write that down!
So you did … and it was so much fun …
Then you showed it to somebody else, and they loved it! And that was even more fun!
Now another idea is bubbling up in your head … write that one down, too …
And, oops! It’s 5 am! You stayed up all night working on that! You’ve got to be at work soon … go shower, NOW!
Soon you’re standing in the kitchen sipping hot coffee from a just-washed cup, because yesterday’s dirty dishes are still piled up in the sink. But you won’t complain about that, because you’re too busy thanking your lucky stars that there was one last pair of clean underwear in the drawer … Didn’t anyone do the laundry, for pete’s sake?! …
… and as you stand there … like the light breaking over the dawn … a devastating realization stirs in your tired brain … we have another creative in the house … and … horror of horrors! … it’s YOU!!!
... well ... maybe not so flighty as me!!- Sherry A Mitcham